Fly in a piece of history: Restored B-17 bomber visits region

KELLY-ANN FRANKLIN

Friday

Jul 31, 2009 at 12:01 AMJul 31, 2009 at 1:04 PM

This weekend, history buffs can see, touch and be part of a mission flying over Connecticut on a restored World War II Boeing B-17 named Liberty Belle. The Belle’s mission today is “to honor those veterans that flew for us and the education of our younger people about World War II,” Liberty Foundation member and B-17 pilot Ron Gause said.

For a history buff, visiting a museum evokes images of what a different time might have been like.

But museums usually don’t allow visitors to step inside an exhibit, or encourage them to touch everything, which can add to the mystique of the past.

And then there’s the Liberty Belle.

This weekend, history buffs can see, touch and be part of a mission flying over Connecticut on a restored World War II Boeing B-17 named Liberty Belle. It will be at Hartford-Brainard Airport Saturday and at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford Sunday.

The Belle’s mission today is “to honor those veterans that flew for us and the education of our younger people about World War II,” Liberty Foundation member and B-17 pilot Ron Gause said.

The Liberty Foundation, based in Douglas, Ga., was founded by Don Brooks in honor of his father, who flew 36 missions in World War II with the 390th Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force. He was a tail gunner in the original Liberty Belle. Of the more than 12,000 B-17s built during the war, the foundation’s aircraft is one of only 14 flying today.

Meet the Liberty Belle

The outer dimensions of the aircraft include a wingspan of 103 feet, 9 inches; a length of 74 feet, 4 inches; and a height of 19 feet, 1 inch. The basic empty weight of the craft is 34,000 pounds, but the gross weight during wartime was 65,500 pounds.

It is powered by four 1, 200-horsepower engines and has three-bladed propellers measuring 11 feet, 7 inches in diameter.

Inside, someone with claustrophobia may not fare well. The tight quarters — think a horse trailer — make it tough to imagine how the 10-member crew required for missions could be comfortable. Or very tall.

The aircraft’s engines sound like a diesel engine of a tractor-trailer on Interstate 395 — only louder. Smoke billows from underneath as each propeller begins to turn and rumbles as the plane begins to move onto the runway. There is no smoothness to the movement, and there’s no insulation or soundproofing, making it feel as though you’re traveling in a tin can with wings.

No pleasure cruise

The flight is not for the weak-of-stomach or those who suffer from motion sickness. The B-17’s mission was bombing runs, and it traveled 20,000-30,000 feet above ground.

Just ahead of the radio room lies a stack of inert bombs — measuring between 31⁄2 and 4 feet.

Pointing out the windows and on swiveling stands sit .50-caliber machine guns.

Once in the air, the Liberty Belle’s flight on a clear, humid day over Hartford felt more like driving on an old dirt road in a beat-up pickup with no shock absorbers and a pothole every 2 feet. But don’t let that fool you.

“She flies very well, she’s a stable craft,” Gause said.

According to the Liberty Foundation, a typical B-17 mission often lasted more than eight hours and struck targets within enemy territory, dropping more than 640,000 tons of bombs during daylight raids. The B-17 also reportedly downed 23 enemy aircraft per 1,000 raids during wartime, compared with 11 by B-24s, 11 by fighters and three by all medium and light bombers.

History in motion

The foundation’s Liberty Belle was built in 1945 and was sold in 1947 to Pratt & Whitney as a test bed for a fifth engine turbo prop. It was retired from service in 1967 and donated to the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks. In 1979, the plane was nearly torn in half when a tornado hit the air museum. Today, after 14 years and $3.5 million worth of restoration work, the Belle has been brought back to life.

That new life includes touring the country. And at every stop where the foundation brings the plane, veterans are there to step aboard and take a trip through time, even for just a half an hour.

“For the tour, we’ve had so many veterans want to come out and fly one more time,” Scott Maher of the Liberty Foundation said. “For a lot of them, this will be the last B-17 they’ll get to see.”

So they leave their mark. Among the veterans who have signed their names on the inside of the walls in the radio room are Glenn Harrison (96th Bomb GA), Robert Dwyer (50 missions 1944), Lt. Col. Joseph Evans (USAF-WWII-Korea S.A.C. New Kensington, Pa.) and SBT Frank Langs (WWII).

A testimonial on the Liberty Foundation’s Web site by Steve Cook says, “There are not enough words to tell you how much that flight meant to me. Thank you for all that you and your organization do to preserve the memory of this most important part of history.”

Times: Flights are usually from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with ground tours after each flight

Cost: Free to tour the Liberty Belle on the ground; $430 for flights for the general public and $390 for Liberty Foundation members.

Information: To schedule a flight, call (918) 340-0243. For more on the Liberty Foundation, visit www.libertyfoundation.org.

At a glance: History of the 390th Bomb Group
In February 1943, the 390th Bomb Group had its inception at Blythe Army Air Base in California with an original complement of 40 officers and 83 enlisted men.

The group was sent to the School of Applied Tactics in Orlando, Fla., for 30 days of special training.

In July 1943, the air personnel of the group were assigned to the 8th Air Force and dispatched to Station 153 in Suffolk, England. The ground personnel arrived later in July with support equipment after crossing the Atlantic Ocean by ship.

The 390th’s first mission was flown Aug. 12, 1943, and its last mission was in May 1945.

On Oct. 10, 1943, B-17s of the 390th Bomb Group shot down 62 German fighter aircraft for a record in the 8th Air Force.

The 390th participated in 301 operational missions, dropping more than 19,000 tons of bombs. But the group lost 179 aircraft — 147 missing in action and 32 to other causes.

The bomb group is credited with destroying a total of 378 enemy aircraft, 78 probably destroyed and 97 damaged.

The 390th was awarded two Presidential Unit Citations, six Battle Streamers and several commendations.

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